Factory output impresses people, but China’s consumption weakens

China’s industrial output grew faster than expected in April and consumption was disappointing, highlighting the challenges facing the world’s second-largest economy despite rapid decline in trade tensions with the United States.

Industrial output grew 6.1% in April, slowing from the previous month, but far exceeded the median estimate in Bloomberg’s survey of analysts. Retail sales growth is a key consumption, weakening to 5.1% from March, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Despite the resilience of factories, consumption in April was weak, suggesting economists warned of the need for more supportive policies after a 90-day tariff pause. China’s long-term property crisis, deflationary pressures and concerns about unemployment are bearing confidence among families.
Beijing has set its 2025 economic growth target at about 5%, after it has previously strengthened its domestic consumption this year. Urban unemployment fell slightly to 5.1% in April.